The Unknown Adriatic

Typical Itinerary

1. Day 1: Fly to Dubrovnik, Croatia

   Fly from London to Dubrovnik and transfer to our hotel. We will have time to explore this historic city and have dinner in a seaside restaurant.

   Accommodation: Hotel Astarea, 1-night

2. Day 2: Cross into Montenegro, Bay of Kotor & Virpazar

   Leaving Dubrovnik, we cross the border into Montenegro and soon reach the scenic Bay of Kotor, the southernmost fjord in Europe. Our road follows the lakeside to the town of Kotor, beautifully situated between the lake and towering cliffs behind it. From here the road climbs rapidly, and from the top we can enjoy the breathtaking vista of Kotor Bay and surrounding mountains.

   Our drive takes us through Lovcen National Park, where we stop for a while to go birding. The park is very diverse and forms a natural border between the Mediterranean coastline and the interior. Blue rock thrush, rock thrush, western rock nuthatch, eastern black-eared wheatear, cirl and rock buntings, and golden eagle are all possible here. We pass Cetinje, the former capital of Montenegro, and enter the valley of Rijeka Crnojevica, which leads towards Skadar Lake. The landscape is once again dramatic as the river meanders between the hills. Stopping to look for birds around the lake, we may encounter pygmy cormorant, glossy ibis, squacco heron, ferruginous duck and marsh terns.

   We spend four nights in Virpazar, a sleepy town on the lakeside, in a guesthouse overlooking the lake where scops owls call during the evenings.

   Accommodation: Hotel Pelikan, 4-nights

3. Day 3: Boat trip on Lake Skadar

   We take a boat ride on Lake Skadar, one of Europe’s largest freshwater lakes, to search for the last surviving Dalmatian pelicans of the lake. Black-necked grebe, pygmy cormorant, ferruginous duck, herons and egrets, spoonbill, whiskered tern and red-rumped swallow are all present in numbers, and the migration may turn up some unexpected surprises.

   After the boat ride we continue to the southern shore of the lake. Driving along a narrow road, high on the mountainside, we have fantastic views over the lake. The Mediterranean shrub alongside the road is home to eastern Orphean, subalpine and Sardinian warblers, sombre tit and cirl bunting. The rocky crags and cliffs hold eastern black-eared wheatear, western rock nuthatch, blue rock thrush and rock partridge. Orchids are in full bloom and butterflies abound. We visit nice old groves of sweet chestnut – a good place to see Syrian woodpecker and wryneck.

4. Day 4: Ulcinj salt pans

   We visit the Ulcinj salt pans along the coast, where we walk along a dyke to view the pools. This is the best place for waders in Montenegro, especially during migration. Levant sparrowhawk and roller also occur in the area. Then we explore Velika Plaza along the River Buna (a.k.a. Bojana), an area of sand dunes, adjoining grassland, forests and wetlands that is an important breeding and migration stopover site.

5. Day 5: Cross into Albania; explore floodplain meadows, lagoons & coast

   We cross into Albania and explore floodplain meadows, lagoons and the coast near the border town of Shkoder. The hilly countryside here is home to classic open-country birds including red-rumped swallow, woodchat shrike, Spanish sparrow and a variety of egrets and waders. On the way back to Virpazar we first drive along the Albanian shore of Lake Skadar enjoying views of the lake and the surrounding mountains, with the possibility of seeing Dalmatian pelican. On the Montenegro side of the border we stop at a tower overlooking the northern part of the lake – the easiest place to see Dalmatian pelican – while the reedbeds hold grebes, ducks and huge colonies of pygmy cormorant.

6. Days 6-7 : Drive into the mountains & Durmitor National Park

   On leaving Virpazar, our route takes us further north-west into the mountains. We stop several times along the way to enjoy the beautiful scenery and to look for blue rock thrush, rock nuthatch and even wallcreeper on the crags and in deep gorges. We drive through part of Tara Canyon, Europe’s deepest gorge.

   Late in the afternoon we reach Žabljak in Durmitor National Park, where we spend two nights in a hotel located on the edge of town, looking onto the surrounding forests and mountains. Žabljak is a small town in northern Montenegro, with a population of around 2,000. At an altitude of 1,456 metres in the Durmitor Mountains, it is the highest town in the Balkans.

   We devote the whole of today to exploring the pristine forests of Durmitor National Park for black and three-toed woodpeckers, crested tit, firecrest, spotted nutcracker and common crossbill. An area of dwarf pines, which we reach via a newly constructed road, might offer ring ouzel, rock thrush and yellow-billed chough. The higher regions are home to shore lark, water pipit, Alpine accentor and snowfinch, but weather conditions may make access difficult, or even impossible. Birds of prey are also well represented in the park and we keep an eye on the sky overhead for goshawk, golden eagle, short-toed eagle and peregrine.

   Accommodation: Hotel SOA, 2 nights

7. Day 8: Return to Dubrovnik

   We drive back to Dubrovnik birdwatching on the way, stopping at the Tivat saltpans among other places. In the afternoon we arrive at our accommodation in Dubrovnik.

   Accommodation: Hotel Astarea, 1-night

8. Day 9: Fly back to the UK

   After a final morning birding around our accommodation we drive to Dubrovnik airport to take our flight back to London.